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DJ Cooper retracts his comments on Baylor and Tennessee

NCAA Basketball Tournament - Ohio v  South Florida

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 18: D.J. Cooper #5 of the Ohio Bobcats reacts after a play against the South Florida Bulls during the third round of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 18, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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Last week, as DJ Cooper was busy leading his Ohio Bobcats through the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, he was also making headlines for what happened as a result of his last trip to the tournament.

After scoring 23 points and handing out eight assists as a freshman as the Bobcats knocked off No. 3 seed Georgetown in the 2010 tournament, Cooper received a good amount of attention from high-major programs looking to convince him (illegally?) to transfer.

The schools after him the hardest? Tennessee and Baylor, or so he said.

Today, Cooper issued a statement through Ohio saying “No schools have directly contacted me or my family since I signed at Ohio University”, which is exactly the opposite of what he told reporters last week.

I’ve heard of ‘he-said, he-said’ situations, but I’ve never run into one where both ‘hes’ are the same person.

If I had to guess, I’d say that the initial comments were probably the truth, and that the statement was an effort to: a) get the media to stop asking questions and/or investigating and b) try to keep the peace with the folks on staff at Baylor and Tennessee.

Scott Drew and Bruce Pearl already have enough enemies in this industry.